Gender: Our youth, let’s tap this talented reservoir

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Vaidah Mashangwa
Africa has the youngest population in the world, according to the African Renewal. This could be a huge asset to governments if they grab the opportunity to mobilise this reservoir of human capacity towards the revival of the continent’s economy.

However, if this huge asset is not well managed and its concerns not addressed by governments then the socio-economic and political development of countries will be compromised.

There are indications that the African youth population might double by 2045 from the 200 million youths aged between 15 and 24 according to the 2012 African Economic Outlook report prepared by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

However, while most African governments have good policies to ensure the employment of youths, the youth unemployment rates remain alarming. The youth unemployment figures are more than double those of adults. The youths account for 60 percent of the unemployed according to the World Bank. An unfortunate scenario is that it is easier for young men than women to get employed even if they have equivalent skills and experience.

It is also important to note that Africa prioritises the empowerment of youths and this is the reason why the African Youth Charter was developed in 2005 as a legal framework of action for African youths. The Charter was approved in May 2005 by Ministers responsible for youths and endorsed by the African Union heads of states in July 2006.

The Charter according to the UNFPA, provides guidance for youths’ development policies and programmes at national level. The Charter also highlights the rights, responsibilities and duties of young people derived from various international agreements and commitments.

By 2013, 28 African countries had ratified the Charter.

Zimbabwe, like other African countries, has various national youth policies and youth development programmes in terms of employment, education and training, sexual and reproductive health. There are a number of vocational training centres across the country.

According to African Renewal, young people across Africa, find work but not in places that pay good wages. As a result, 70 percent of youths in the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda and Zimbabwe are either self-employed or contributing to family work. Most of them sell recharge mobile telephone cards, some work in restaurants and hotels. Most of the young women are into hairdressing, flea market vending and they also work in restaurants and hotels.

According to the African Economic Outlook, many of them live on less than US$2 per day.

Research has actually revealed that the African youths are energetic, creative and talented. What is needed is the supporting mechanism to tap this reservoir. It must be borne in mind too that writers today describe adolescence as a multiple transition involving education, training, employment and unemployment as well as transitions from one set of living circumstances to another, unlike in historical times when it was described as a transition between childhood and adulthood. It seems the youths are at more liberty too and do not conform to adult rules, norms and values that seemed to guide the lives of the youths in the past.

A long time ago girls were not allowed to come home after 6PM in most households but nowadays young women are seen loitering in town after late hours and also drinking up to the early hours of the following morning. Some of them engage in prostitution at a very tender age thereby compromising their health and their participation in socio-economic and political development of their countries.

The greater freedom it carries with it the more risks and greater costs due to errors of judgement are made. Powerful examples include dropping out of school willy-nilly, teenage pregnancies, being homeless, suffering from HIV/Aids, drug addiction, suicide, involvement in rape and robbery cases.

A spine chilling example is the conviction of eight men who were sentenced to a total of 639 years for rape, robbery, housebreaking and carjacking on January 21, 2016, at the Bulawayo magistrates’ court. The youngest, 21-year-old Lewis Ndlovu, was sentenced to 34 years.

Sudden disruption of one’s life and family life due to a lack of personal identity at such a stage in life is a devastating experience for the youth. Every youth should come at a stage where he/she knows what is good or bad for him/her. Healthy habits and development in youths should involve the adaptive (positive personality) outweighing the maladaptive (negative personality).

This is the reason why in some cultures boys are initiated into adulthood so that they identify with their culture. They are also taught how to behave as a young adult. A good example is the Xhosa tribe in South Africa.

It encourages a sense of continuity and adherence to the accepted norms and values. While there are other rituals such as genital-mutilation for girls during such processes which is a violation of human rights but the idea is to insure that a man proves that he is a mature adult ready to serve the community and the family in a more organised fashion.

Youths should also have a healthy parent-young adult relationship with their parents so that there is guidance and mutual understanding between the two. Parents should continually monitor the behaviour of their young boys and girls as they mature into adolescents.

At times it becomes too late to correct certain behaviour among grown adults. A good example is the “vuzu” parties. If a child is not home by midnight what then is the role of the parent in the life of the child? When youths are into raping and housebreaking sprees, where are the parents? Our today’s youths have too much freedom as they leave and come home at their own time.

African leaders should, however, be applauded for their meeting in Addis Ababa in 2009 and declaring 2009-2018 the African Youth Decade. They resolved to mobilise resources for youth development as well as addressing issues of unemployment and underemployment of youths. However, for this to materialise it calls for the youths themselves to be proactive and parents and communities who are supportive of youth development initiatives. Lessons learnt from the Ethiopian government are that it pays to encourage young people to start small businesses. Ethiopian youths who want to become young entrepreneurs are encouraged to organise themselves into groups in order to access micro-finance.

They are then trained by the State-run Federal Micro and Small Enterprise Development Agency in business start-up and management skills and they are given the financial support by the agency to start businesses in textiles, leather, agriculture, trading wood and steel.

Similar and intense training in Zimbabwe has also assisted youths to start up their own businesses.

Vaidah Mashangwa Provincial Development Officer Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development. She can be contacted on +26377 211 1592 email: [email protected]

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